


The Dartmoor Anomalies

by Annariel



Category: Primeval
Genre: F/M, Team, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-24
Updated: 2013-06-18
Packaged: 2017-12-12 20:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/815705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annariel/pseuds/Annariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On Dartmoor, close to where Emily spent many summers in her childhood, a criminal is on the loose. A recurring anomaly is opening at seemingly random locations on the moor and spitting out creatures from the Pleistocene. While Jess struggles to coordinate operations amid the many mobile phone blackspots, and Connor tries to find a pattern in the way the anomaly opens, the rest of the team must attempt to keep both creatures and people in their proper time zones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to fredbassett for beta-reading and queenmidalah for creating a header.

Jess's heart sank as she triangulated on the anomaly signal. 

"Well?" Becker's breath ghosted against her cheek. He was leaning over her shoulder, as usual, too close for casual friendship, but just too far away for his cheek to touch hers. Also as usual. In fact the whole encounter held the usual entirely substance-less hint of intimacy.

It didn't lift her spirits.

"Dartmoor," she said. "I'm triangulated on the anomaly but I'm not necessarily going to be much help to you. It's difficult to get a signal around there."

"The training camp seems to manage."

Jess made a face. "I can see I'll be spending the afternoon arguing with the MoD."

Becker grinned at her and tweaked her cheek. "You'll do fine." Then he turned and began issuing orders.

A hub-bub of hurried preparation filled the area. One by one the team snatched up the little row of black boxes that sat on the end of Jess's station. Abby leaned against Jess's desk before collecting hers. Jess frowned at her. Abby raised her eyebrows and looked pointedly at Becker.

"Did Becker just pinch my cheek?" Jess couldn't help asking.

"That's what it looked like," said Abby.

"He's so over the line," returned Jess and looked back at her screens.

"Say something about it," Abby suggested.

"Don't be stupid." Jess tossed her a black box. "On your way."

Abby raised her eyebrows and made a face, but then moved off after Becker and the others.

Jess began putting in calls to both the Ministry of Defence and Devon and Cornwall Police. If she could piggy-back on one of their frequencies, there was some hope she could keep in touch with the teams if they had to hunt a creature.

* * *

Jess gave up on the rigidly polite disagreement she was having with some faceless bureaucrat. "Thanks for your assistance," she said and rang off. "Not!" she added loudly once the line was closed.

"Problem?" 

Jess looked up to see Lester standing at her shoulder. "I don't know. Do you have any influence at the MoD?"

"Possibly. Why?"

"I'm trying to get permission to access their comms network on Dartmoor. There's no point trying to use the commercial phone frequencies like we normally do, the reception isn't consistent enough."

"How about the police?"

"They're tied up in some kind of manhunt. They want all their transmitters reserved for their problem."

"I'd have thought a T. rex loose on Dartmoor would constitute an emergency."

"Can I tell them that, sir? I was under the impression we were supposed to keep that kind of information to ourselves."

"You, Jessica Parker, are being cheeky."

"So, are you going to phone the MoD or not?"

Lester sighed and retreated to his office. Jess hoped he'd manage to get some traction where she had failed.

* * *

Becker jumped out of the chopper almost as soon as it touched down. They had landed on an open road across the moor. Gently undulating grassland stretched out on either side. Visibility wasn't bad, though there was a foggy haze in the distance. There was a powerful sense of wide open space. Matt jumped out of the chopper next to Becker and wordlessly they jogged away from the road. The anomaly was glittering at the top of a tor not far from where they were. It was going to be clearly visible to anyone driving past.

"Christ, we're lucky no tourists saw this," Becker muttered.

"Jess said she had the road blocked very quickly. Something about there being a lot of police in the area already," replied Matt.

"Any sign of incursion?" Becker asked. He scanned the soggy ground, but he wasn't an expert on animal tracks. He looked back to where Abby, Emily and Connor were just getting out of the helicopter. "Abby, how are your tracking skills on this kind of terrain?" he shouted.

"Dead sheep," Matt interrupted.

Becker hurried over to look. He grimaced at the sight. The sheep was only recently dead and had clearly been mutilated by something in search of food.

"I suppose it was too much to hope that nothing would have got through while we were getting down here."

"We've got tracks." Matt stepped further on, scanning the ground.

"What was that?" Abby ran up to Becker with Connor and Emily were trailing in her wake.

"I was asking about tracking but it looks like Matt has it covered."

"Anomaly?" Connor gestured towards the anomaly as best he could given his arms were full of a locking device.

"I'll keep an eye on Connor. You and Matt follow the tracks," Abby suggested to Becker.

"What about me?" asked Emily.

Matt interrupted. "Becker and I will follow the tracks. I want Connor to lock the anomaly then you three give the area a proper check. Make sure nothing else got through."

Emily scowled at Matt. Becker decided he was relieved this was not his problem, checked his gun and headed away from the group and the glittering anomaly.

* * *

"Becker, can I have a status report please?" Jess asked pursing her lips with anxiety.

The signals from Becker and Matt's black boxes kept flickering in and out. She had a bearing for their direction. It would eventually take them close to Princetown and into range of a big phone mast, but for now the actual markers for their position on the GPS map kept flickering in and out.

Her headset buzzed with static. "What... that?". It sounded a bit like Becker's voice.

"Status report, Becker?" she repeated.

The static buzzed once again and then fell silent.

Jess tapped her painted fingernails against the desk in front of her for ten seconds and then put herself through to Lester's office. "How are you doing with the military?" she asked.

"I'm waiting for them to call back."

"Call them again. I've lost contact with Becker and Matt."

* * *

Becker wasn't an expert tracker. He'd done a course, courtesy of HM Special Forces and had updated it since landing the ARC assignment. However, really all that had taught him was how much less of a tracker he was than the real professionals. Matt wasn't much better, so their progress was slow, with false leads and a lot of backtracking. It didn't help that they kept losing radio contact with Jess. Becker made a mental note that he needed to schedule some time orienteering without the aid of an operations manager. He'd clearly come to rely too much on her advance information and not enough on his own sense of geography and direction.

Still whatever they were following was large enough to leave clear tracks when they came across an undisturbed stretch of mud. The tracks were roughly circular with, Becker was relieved to see, no sign of claws.

"Cloven hooves," he remarked to Matt when they came across a particularly clear set. "Looks like a herbivore."

"You've forgotten the sheep. Could be an entelodont. They were omnivorous."

Becker cursed quietly. He had, indeed, temporarily forgotten the sheep.

His headset crackled. "Matt, Becker, I have a position for you? Do you copy?"

"I copy. If we send you a picture of some tracks do you think you can get an identification for us?"

"I can try!"

Matt nodded his approval and pulled one of the compact transmitting cameras from his jacket.

The radio connection popped and fizzed. "Jess did you get that?" Matt asked.

There was silence.

Matt looked at Becker, who shrugged back. They had no idea whether she had got the footage or not.

They followed the hoof prints across yet more moorland and then dropped down into what looked like a wide farm track. Becker scanned along it in either direction. Just as it rounded a bend he caught a glimpse of dust-coloured fur and the flick of a long tail. Matt's EMD swung up to his shoulder. He had seen it too.

"Jess?" Becker queried, but there was only silence from the radio.

* * *

Connor thrust his hands into his pockets and hopped nervously from foot to foot as Abby and Emily scouted the area around the anomaly. He checked on the locking device for the umpteenth time, but it was working fine. They generally did. The only problem was their tendency to get blown or knocked over.

"Anything?" he called over to the girls. 

Emily shook her head and continued in a wide circle. Abby, on the other hand, was crouched down, her head scanning from side to side, looking first at the anomaly and then out across the moor.

Connor eyed the locking device and debated whether to risk wandering over to her to see what she had found. Then Abby stood up and continued to walk the circle, still watching the ground closely.

Finally, the two women moved back in his direction.

"Well?" he asked looking at Abby.

"There are several sets of tracks. I can't work out if it is several animals or one animal coming and going several times."

"Definitely the same species then."

"Probably, the ground isn't good enough here to give clear tracks, but the impression of size is consistent."

"If there is more than one creature then we should warn Becker and Matt," pointed out Emily.

"Easier said than done, given the trouble Jess is having contacting them."

"I have a rough idea of their location. I get the odd blip of location data," Jess broke in. "I think they are about a mile south east of you."

Abby gazed across the moorland. "The most recent tracks, by my guess, head in that direction."

"Well, the anomaly is locked, so there is nothing more coming through here," Connor pointed out.

"Emily, Abby, can you follow the tracks you've found and lend back-up to Matt and Becker if you encounter them?" Jess asked.

Abby nodded. "Seems like a reasonable plan."

"I agree. If there are several creatures they will need support," said Emily.

"What about me?" objected Connor.

"Someone needs to guard the locking device," Jess pointed out.

"Why me though?"

"It's the fate of the nerd," said Abby solemnly, though she grinned to show there was no malice. She stood up on tiptoe and kissed Connor gently on the cheek. "Let us have the fun for once."

"For once!" he said indignantly, but the women were already walking away from him. Abby raised her hand in a wave.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are we heading towards that copse?" Emily asked.

The ground was falling away from them in a slight slope and a clump of stunted-looking trees clustered ahead of them. The trees tumbled down towards what looked like a rambling farmhouse snuggled in a valley.

"Looks like it. It makes sense that an animal in strange territory would head for some sort of cover." Abby said.

They continued towards the trees, Abby scanning the ground constantly for clues.

"I'm beginning to lose you," Jess warned them.

Abby stopped. "Not much we can do about that, Jess. We seem to be heading towards Becker and Matt. Hopefully we can link up with them."

"Very well, good luck, guys. As soon as I get some proper comms established I'll be in touch again."

Abby glanced across at Emily. "Into the unknown?"

Emily hefted her gun. "Not so unknown. You said yourself that you think we are only trailing one creature and it is not much bigger than a man."

Abby laughed. "I like the way you say `not much bigger' so casually."

Emily shrugged. "The EMDs can cope with creatures that size without too much difficulty. Four of us should be a match for such a beast."

"I hope so," said Abby.

The trees were quite widely spaced apart with tumbled rocks in between them, but Abby and Emily were still forced to duck under branches as they made their way down the slope towards the farmhouse. At least their progress was relatively quick. Abby was able to follow the trail of broken twigs and scraps of dust-coloured fur that showed where the animal had passed.

In fact, so clear was the trail, Abby was beginning to suspect that the animal had moved back and forth along it several times and was starting to worry that it wasn't necessarily a good guide to the creature's current location.

At that moment Emily gave a gasp. Abby looked up from where she had been scanning the ground. A huge creature was standing on top of a boulder almost directly in front of Emily. Abby was briefly stunned at the way it had appeared, as if from nowhere. She struggled to identify it. It had a long elongated head with sabre teeth jutting out over its lower jaw, but it wasn't a cat of any kind she'd every encountered, nor was it much like a dog.

It reared up on its hind legs and Abby was startled to see two hoofed feet waving in the air. Emily backed up swiftly bringing her EMD to bear on it but the feet smashed into the gun before she got clear, and knocked it to the ground. Emily backed away even faster, and didn't attempt to retrieve the weapon.

Abby swiftly moved to one side trying to get a clear shot at the whatever-it-was. Emily dodged the other way, ducking under some low branches and vanished over the edge of a boulder. Abby fired. The creature let out a bellowing roar and backed away from her, disappearing into what must have been some kind of ditch. Abby paused to adjust the stun setting on her gun. She resisted the temptation to call out to Emily, trusting the woman to look after herself. Instead Abby moved forwards slowly, following the new trail left by the creature.

* * *

Becker and Matt had worked their way around the farm's outbuildings and now found themselves at the edge of a small scrubby wood. 

"Broken branches," reported Matt indicating to the trees.

Becker nodded. "Into the wood then."

The trail was different in the woods, fewer distinct footprints. As the ground rose up and away from the farm it became drier and was broken up by large slabs of stone. Becker's grasp of geology was minimal, though thanks to Connor's enthusiastic efforts somewhat better than it had once been. If they hadn't been so high, he would have assumed they were in a glacial valley but as it was he couldn't account for the way large rocks lay strewn across the landscape. Even so, while they had fewer footprints to guide them, the low trees showed their own tell tales of where the beast had passed.

Suddenly Becker caught a flash of movement in the bushes up ahead. It looked like a dark body and then a flicker of pale yellow fur. He froze, quietly lifting his gun to track the rustling leaves.

A cry sounded up ahead, loud and clear.

"That's Emily!" Matt kept his voice low, but the concern in it was obvious.

Becker began to jog quickly towards the movement he had seen in the bushes. He heard a low growling sound from somewhere. It wasn't coming from the creature in the bushes up ahead but from further away. He risked a glance in the direction of the growl. He immediately spotted Emily through the trees, scrambling down the tumbled boulders.

The bushes ahead of him moved at the same moment, as something rose upwards. Becker heard the whir behind him of Matt's EMD powering up for a shot. At the same moment, his brain registered that he was looking at Abby and not at some prehistoric monster. Moreover Abby had her own gun sighted upon something behind Emily.

Becker shouted, "Wait!" turning towards Matt to stop him, but he was already too late. There was the sound of Matt's gun discharging. With a cry Abby dropped to the ground as the electric charge hit her full on.

Becker turned backwards, sighting up the path behind Emily, instinct telling him this was the direction of the threat. Emily threw herself forward and Becker could now see what she was running from. A huge long-snouted creature with wicked-looking teeth projecting over its lower jaw was heading towards them with a galloping motion.

Becker shot once and it slowed, but he already knew his setting was too low. Emily dived to the ground next to Abby and when she came up she was holding the other woman's EMD. There was a second shot and the creature went down.

* * *

Jess stood up as she heard the familiar clatter of the anomaly team returning from a shout.

"You do not fire until you have correctly identified your target!" Becker shouted as he entered the main control room.

Jess winced. She had already heard this conversation several times as the ARC team transported the large creature, tentatively identified by Connor as an Andrewsarchus, back to the anomaly and closed it off. He'd repeated a variation on it as the chopper flew the team back to the ARC once the anomaly closed and, it appeared, he was re-iterating the point as they came to the debrief.

"Well, I'm glad we've finally established that point." Lester's voice cut over Becker's rant.

Matt was looking mulish. "With the kind of creatures that come out of anomalies, time is not always a luxury you have on your side."

"I don't recall asking your opinion, Mr Anderson," Lester cut in before Becker could retaliate. 

Connor, Abby and Emily trailed behind the two arguing men. Jess was relieved to see that Abby looked fine although she was leaning slightly on Connor's arm and didn't object when he lead her straight to a seat and pulled it out for her to sit on.

Lester let his glare linger on the team before speaking again. "Mr Anderson, in my office now. There will be a full team debrief tomorrow morning, but this evening I'll talk to each of you individually and then you can go home."

Lester stalked into his office, Matt trailing behind him. 

Jess breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Hopefully, by the morning, tempers would have calmed and there would be more of a chance for a proper autopsy of the mission.

"At least you got the creature back," she said smiling at the remaining team members.

"No thanks to you!" Becker snapped.

Jess was so surprised that she couldn't think of anything to say.

"You what?" Connor asked.

"It's Jess's job to manage field operations. If she hadn't sent Abby and Emily after us, there would have been no risk of anyone getting caught in friendly fire."

"We all agreed the plan," interrupted Emily quietly. "There was a risk of more creatures."

"Not enough of a risk to venture after us when comms were down."

"It's hardly Jess's fault that Dartmoor has a lousy phone network," said Connor.

"I've done operations on Dartmoor. There is absolutely no problem with comms. Jess just wasn't trying."

Jess felt a little like she'd been slapped. "How can you think that?" she began.

"What I think isn't important," Becker snapped. "It is your job to keep us all in contact with each other and you failed."

"Becker, shut up now!" It was Abby speaking for the first time. She had risen shakily from her seat and Jess could see her glaring at Becker with a look of total fury on her face.

"I am in charge of military..."

"And I am not military and you are going to shut your mouth and apologise to Jess this instant! We all know she always does her best."

"And what exactly do you know about field operations control?" Becker shot back.

"Now look here, mate," Connor started.

"Everyone shut up, now!" Lester's furious voice broke out over the hub-hub in the ARC. He glared fiercely at the team. Matt hovered at his elbow but kept his mouth shut and his feelings to himself.

A stunned silence fell.

"That's better," said Lester. "You all have offices. I want you all in them in the next five minutes and I want written reports on my desk before you go home tonight. Jess will send for you when I'm ready to give you individual debriefs." He glared at them all. Gradually Becker and then Abby, Connor and Emily nodded at him. They turned and dispersed deeper into the ARC.

Jess glanced at Lester and he nodded at her, but she couldn't take much sense of reassurance from his carefully neutral features.


	3. Chapter 3

Jess resisted the temptation to go home, eat chocolate and watch _Love, Actually_ on DVD. Instead she went out to the pub with Connor and Abby, and vented at length over vodka and coke. She recalled that after about the third glass, everything had seemed terribly funny but she couldn't really remember what the joke had been, except that Becker had most definitely been the butt of it. 

Going to the pub had been good for her self-esteem but the hangover didn't do her many favours the next morning. There was a brief and uncomfortable meeting with Lester and Matt in which Lester wanted her to lay out all the reasons she sent Abby and Emily to follow the two soldiers. She felt tongue-tied and stupid but as they left the room Matt gave her a lop-sided half-smile.

"It's pretty clear it's my fault for being trigger-happy. If there had been a second creature, Becker and I could have been in a lot of trouble without backup," he said.

"But there wasn't a second creature. It never occurred to me that friendly fire could be risk. I should have thought of that."

Matt patted her on the shoulder. "You will next time. Don't second guess yourself too much though. Hesitation gets more people killed than decisiveness. Lester's going to do a full debrief this afternoon. It'll all be sorted out then."

But there was no full debrief because half an hour later the anomaly signal went off again. With a sense of inevitability Jess watched the screens triangulate back on Dartmoor. She looked up to see the rest of the team approaching. Becker was in the lead and his face still looked thunderous 24 hours after the previous days' argument.

"Where?" he snapped.

Jess gestured at the screen not trusting herself to speak.

"Oh for Christ's sake!" Becker fumed.

Jess patched herself straight through to Lester's office not bothering to acknowledge Becker's frustration. "Sir, we have another anomaly on Dartmoor."

She began typing in the numbers for the Dartmoor Training Area once more.

"Put the MoD straight through to me and call up Said, he'll be handling field operations from here." Lester had walked out of his office to address the team.

Jess felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she put through the instruction and then stood up, taking off her headset and trying not to let the tears that were threatening to fall, show in her eyes.

"That's not fair. The chaos yesterday wasn't Jess's fault!" Abby said angrily.

"Did I say it was?" Lester's eyebrow quirked up. "The impasse I reached with our beloved friends in the MoD was that we couldn't high-jack their network from here, but they would accept an operator at their end. Jess is going with you in the chopper."

"With all due respect, sir," Becker began.

"No, Becker, I'm not remotely interested in any objections you may have. You've already demonstrated your judgment is far from sound in this situation. Consider yourself lucky I'm letting you go as well."

Becker scowled around the room.

"We'll be glad to have you with us, Jess," Matt smiled reassuringly at her.

"Yeah! Cool!" Connor chipped in.

Gradually the rest of the team gathered around Jess shaking her hand and alternately offering congratulations and reassurance. She found herself blushing with embarrassment.

"I'll be perfectly safe, ensconced on a military base, no doubt. Nothing to worry about."

Then suddenly she was face to face with Becker. His expression was unreadable. "Sorry I shouted at you yesterday. I tend to forget not everyone is used to the military training," he mumbled. 

As apologies went, Jess felt it was somewhat graceless, however she was aware of Lester's eyes still on them all. "Apology accepted!" she said with a bright smile.

Becker turned away from her immediately.

"Right, you lot, get going!" ordered Lester from his vantage point.

* * *

Privates Harris and Wilkins were far from impressed with the guard detail they had been given. The high-ups hadn't told them much about what was going on, which was pretty typical, but gossip had run through the base that some civilian science team was muscling in and wanted an experiment guarded.

As a result ten teams had been sent to walk over the moor looking for a ball of light and, when it was found, Harris and Wilkins had apparently drawn the short straw which involved sitting around it waiting for the civvies to turn up and do whatever it was they did with their experiment.

"Bloody civilians," grumbled Wilkins. "Can't they look after their own experiments?"

Harris shrugged. Privately he was pretty curious about the ball of light. Science might not have been his strong suit at school but he knew enough to be quietly impressed by the whatever-it-was. However since official opinion seemed to be that it was a waste of highly trained military resources, he didn't like to say anything.

"God, I'd love a fag!" Wilkins added.

Harris was working on a suitable reply when his attention was caught by the sounds of a growl from behind him somewhere. He turned to look over the moor.

"What is it?" asked Wilkins.

"Not sure, sounded like a dog maybe."

The growl came again. Wilkins walked carefully around the scientific experiment looking in all directions. Harris kept a careful look out, scanning from side to side. Then he noticed something move. Carefully he shouldered his rifle and began to stalk towards it.

* * *

Jess could feel the eyes of Major Lee boring into her as she wired the three computers they had brought with them into the military comms network. The major was a petite dark woman with a startlingly pretty face but, if anything, that made Jess more nervous than she would have done faced with a grumpy old man. 

Connor, who was helping her, had been stunned into inarticulate awe by the major. Every time she directed a question at him he jumped or started. Jess was frankly surprised he hadn't managed to knock himself out on the desk yet. But it did mean she was having to answer all the questions on her own, from a woman who was shorter than she was. 

She felt a huge sense of relief when Matt, Abby, Emily and Becker appeared. They had been holed up in a side room, pouring over a map of Dartmoor.

"Are the black boxes ready yet?" Matt asked.

Jess nodded and handed them out. "We haven't got access to the full range of information we normally have, but I will be able to track you everywhere on the moor.

Matt nodded and flashed her a smile then he turned to Major Lee. "With your permission, ma'am, we'll head out now and relieve those guards of yours."

* * *

The trek to the second anomaly took them some way from the roads. The landscape was mostly wide open. It made the back of Matt's neck itch. There was nowhere to hide. The need to know where the next bolt hole was had been trained into him from childhood. The rational knowledge that he had very little to fear could do little to counteract the childhood instincts. He was relieved when the anomaly came in sight. Matt could feel Becker marching along behind him, still in a semi-sulk from the fiasco and dressing down the previous day.

Matt wasn't too impressed himself with how events at the last anomaly had unfolded and he was glad, once again, that the EMDs weren't lethal. Abby had taken the mistake well, but for all he had argued he was in the right, he was aware it wasn't the sort of mistake the anomaly team could afford.

"There are supposed to be guards on the bloody thing," Becker complained.

"Private Harris and Private Wilkins," Jess supplied over the radio link. "They were left there 50 minutes ago."

"They do not seem to be here now," said Emily.

"I'm not so sure." As they drew closer Matt could see shaped heaps in the grass. A couple more strides and he was certain that he was looking at bodies in camouflage gear.

"A creature must have come through," Emily said earnestly.

Matt jogged over the uneven ground to the nearest body. Something was wrong. It looked almost whole, though blood was staining the grass. Matt turned the man over just as Becker came up beside him.

"That's no creature attack," Becker commented.

Matt had to agree. It looked to him like the man had been killed by a knife.

* * *

Jess was trying not to look at the images of the dead soldiers. All the runaround she had received the day before from the police was back in her mind. Her headset rang persistently as she waited for Devon and Cornwall constabulary to pick up the phone. Meanwhile she was scanning the local news sources.

"There was talk of a man hunt yesterday," she said to Connor and a grim-faced Major Lee, as she speed read one local web site after another.

"Could be cavemen," offered Connor.

"Against trained armed military?" Major Lee's voice was tight with suppressed anger.

"Hey! Don't dis Neanderthals." But Connor didn't sound convinced.

"The prison isn't for dangerous criminals." Lee frowned at the press item Jess had pulled up.

"Hello! Is that Devon and Cornwall Police?" Jess asked as someone finally picked up the phone at the other end of the line.

* * *

DS Hawks looked distinctly unhappy to find himself briefing a mixed team of soldiers and government officials. He was in his thirties with slightly greasy-looking black hair and a nervous manner that meant he said "um" irritatingly often as he talked.

"Why was this man in Dartmoor Prison at all?" Major Lee demanded.

Behind DS Hawks was an ugly-looking mug shot of a shaven-headed man with a heavy jaw and angry glowering eyes. Glancing down at the brief rap sheet that had been handed around Becker had to agree. The charges against Kevin Hargreaves were nasty.

"To be honest we had no idea he was even connected to these crimes until a week ago. He was in Dartmoor for possession. Another prisoner came forward with information that he was really a lot higher up the food chain than we suspected. A week later and our informant is dead and Hargreaves has skipped."

Becker glanced at the sheet again and this time he picked up the subtle difference between "convicted for" and "wanted in relation to". Wanted in relation to included half a dozen murders on or around the south coast in the past five years. He flicked over the sheet. Ten years ago Hargreaves had been working for DynCorp, a large private security firm in Columbia, before that he'd been in the Coldstream Guards for a tour but had clearly moved on to more lucrative private work as soon as he could. The two rookie privates guarding the anomaly hadn't stood a chance.

That was when the anomaly alert sounded, making them all jump.

* * *

This time the army was out in full force. No one was taking any chances with a murderer on the loose, and the soldiers felt some serious pay back was owed. Various forms had been signed high up in London, and while they still exhibited some scepticism, the soldiers had at least been told what other dangers they might expect. They took several army Land Rovers to the latest anomaly, which was close both to the base and its access road.

"What are those?" someone asked, the question echoing over the radio headsets.

Connor peered out of the muddy window of the Land Rover and typed frantically on his laptop. "Look like Pleistocene again. That's when the Andrewsarchus came from," he said as he typed. "Some sort of entelodont maybe?"

"What's an entelodont?" Emily asked.

"Giant omnivorous pig," Connor supplied.

"Just what we need," muttered Becker.

"Stay here with DS Hawks, Connor. See what you can tell us about the pigs," ordered Matt.

"What if our friendly axe murderer turns up?"

"Unlikely," said DS Hawks. "Too many people here."

Connor carried on typing as the soldiers fanned out towards the large group of possible entelodonts that were grubbing in the heath-land around the anomaly.

"I'm usually out there too, you know." Connor felt the urge to explain. "I'm quite handy with a gun, me."

"I don't doubt it."

Connor eyed DS Hawks to see if he was taking the mickey, but the man was peering in fascination out of the window and didn't seem to be paying much attention at all to Connor.

Connor paused in his typing to watch the operation unfolding before him. Becker was waving his arms around in an efficient fashion. Connor guessed he was directing the soldiers to encircle the herd and then presumably nudge them back through the anomaly. Matt was standing next to Becker, while Abby and Emily had split off with another group of soldiers and were working around to the far side.

Connor was fascinated to see one of the larger animals turn to face Becker. Even from within the Land Rover Connor could make out the way its fur was standing up all along its back.

"That doesn't look good." DS Hawks had leaned forwards over the dashboard, as if the extra couple of inches would give him a closer view.

"Err..., no."

Becker had stopped still and looked as if he was engaged in a staring contest with the creature. Connor could see Matt was talking to him urgently, presumably attempting to get him to disengage.

Then Becker swung up his EMD and let off a single shot. The creature slumped to the ground. Connor let out the breath he realised he'd been holding.

* * *

"Bloody Becker, can't he avoid getting into a pissing contest for a few hours!" Abby spat.

"You did say that pack animals respond to shows of dominance. You recommended using the EMDs to take down the alpha males," Emily pointed out.

"As a last resort!" Abby shot back. "Knocking things unconscious is never a brilliant idea."

"At least he's picking on something his own size," Emily muttered darkly and Abby knew she was thinking of the way Becker had rounded on Jess the day before.

"If he's feeling contrite he should apologise properly to Jess not take it out on giant pig things," Abby said.

They had almost closed up the circle around the entelodonts now. Abby glanced at the soldiers who had come with them. They were armed with conventional weapons and had orders only to shoot as a last resort.

At that moment a small section of the herd made a break for it and charged towards a gap. Abby heard the buzz of Emily's gun firing and watched the lead animal drop to the ground. It didn't stop the break-out. Reluctantly, Abby raised her own gun and fired at the next animal.

Then there was a stutter of gunfire somewhere behind her. Abby almost turned to shout at the offending soldier but her attention was caught by the way the entire herd was now moving in panic. Suddenly there were giant pig creatures running in every direction


	4. Chapter 4

DS Hawks shouted in alarm as a large entelodont landed on the front of their car. It was huge, probably the height of a man up to its shoulder, and from their vantage point it was possible to see the tusks jutting up from its jaw.

"Jesus!" exclaimed Hawks. He slid across into the driver's seat and started the engine.

Connor snapped his laptop shut quickly and dropped it onto to the floor in the back of the vehicle. Then he scrambled into the front seat. The Land Rover swerved as DS Hawks spun the steering wheel, trying to dislodge the beast from the bonnet.

Connor pulled open the glove compartment and reached for the small EMD pistol he'd seen Becker stash there. The Land Rover jerked to a halt throwing Connor back into the seat. Hawks gunned the engine but they were stuck in the muddy ground and weren't going anywhere in a hurry. There was a clatter of breaking glass as the entelodont head-butted the window.

Connor ducked forwards, dodging the snapping jaws and his hand closed around the EMD. Quickly he pulled it out of the glove compartment and fired it directly into the creature's mouth. 

It slumped unconscious onto the bonnet, leaving them both gasping in relief.

* * *

"You have three main groups of creatures," Jess said. She was watching the footage coming in from a police chopper they had had on standby in case Hargreaves showed up.

"Where are they heading?" Matt asked.

"There's a large group moving into the Okehampton range area. You'll need a lot of people to head them off. One of the two smaller groups is heading up Lints Tor. The others have reached a road and are heading towards New Bridge."

"Right! I'll take the New Bridge ones. Becker will head towards Okehampton with most of the soldiers. Abby and Emily can take the tor," Matt said.

"Roger that! I'll see if Connor and DS Hawks can assist you."

"We're stuck in the mud!" Connor wailed in her ear.

"No you're not. It's a military four-wheel drive Land Rover," Jess said hoping the smile didn't show in her voice. "I'm patching you into a driving instructor. He'll have you out of there in a jiffy."

* * *

Matt had two soldiers with him. The New Bridge road was narrow and fenced in on either side by high hedgerows leaving the entelodonts with little option but to continue onwards. Matt could hear the strange low grunting noise of the animals ahead of him and hoped that the police cordon was keeping cars off the moor.

Then the three men rounded a tight bend in the road and came face to face with the entelodonts. A farm tractor was backing out of a gate in the hedge and the pack had come to a halt in alarm. Matt had a moment to process the scene before the inevitable happened and the creatures turned at bay and headed back towards him and the two soldiers.

Matt immediately shot the lead beast, in the lead, hoping to drive the creatures out of their path. It was a small group; with the largest creature down it numbered four animals, two of whom appeared to be juveniles.

"Get to the side of the road!" Matt shouted at the two soldiers.

There was a cry and he realised one of them had been clipped by a stray hoof and had gone down. The second was lifting her rifle upwards.

"Hold your fire!" Matt shouted. 

She scowled at him but backed up carefully, with her comrade leaning on her shoulder.

"Follow them back to the anomaly!" Matt shouted.

There was a loud growl. One of the adults was now facing off against him, hackles raised like the big male that had confronted Becker earlier but Matt was pretty certain that this was a female. He began to back up the road slowly. The creature swung her head from side to side, still growling, and began to stalk after him.

Matt broke into a backwards trot. He really didn't like the body language being sent his way. He glanced back down at his EMD. It was almost out of power. It wasn't going to be much use if the thing charged.

He rounded the corner once more, glancing from side to side for some sort of weapon while the sound of hooves clattering on the tarmac sped up. The pack rounded the corner behind him. Matt turned and began to jog up the road. If he was lucky they would follow him back to the anomaly. He was going to need to be pretty lucky to keep ahead of them though. The sound of hooves was getting closer.

Then a Land Rover appeared around another twist in the road. DS Hawks was at the wheel and Connor was hanging out of a side window waving an EMD in a vaguely responsible fashion. The vehicle screeched to a halt amid renewed squeals from the entelodonts.

Matt made the most of the temporary confusion to reach the car.

"Move over!" he shouted at the frightened-looking policeman.

Hastily the man shuffled over, squeezing Connor up against the far door. Matt climbed up into the driver's seat. The entelodonts had stopped. Matt checked the mirror and shifted the Land Rover into reverse then he began to move as fast as he dared back around the corner.

"This is a single track road. There's nowhere to turn for miles." Connor whined.

"We don't have time to turn anyway," Matt said, dividing his attention between the road behind them and the pack of prehistoric creatures in front.

In the face of their retreat, the entelodonts followed them up the road.

* * *

"Do you two have a plan?"

Abby stopped to look at the soldier, Private Webster, who was accompanying herself and Emily. They were tramping up a low hill on a vector given to them by Jess.

Abby shrugged. "Find the entelodonts. Try to flank them. Drive them back down the hill."

"There's three of us. If they're anything like sheep we'll need to go into a triangle formation. Stop them straying to left or right."

"I'm not sure they're anything like sheep," said Abby doubtfully. "They're omnivorous for a start, and a lot bigger."

"There are not many in this group," Emily pointed out.

"Only two according to the chopper images," Jess broke in. "Matt says they are quite aggressive, but clearly herd animals."

Abby nodded. "A triangle is a good idea. We'll have you at the back." She pointed at Webster. "You can fire into the air but try to avoid hitting any of the creatures. We'll take each flank and attempt to keep them on route."

They came over the top of the hill and found the entelodonts nosing around in what looked like the remains of a picnic. 

Emily scanned the area for people but couldn't see any. "Who has left this food here?" she wondered.

Abby made a face. "People with no consideration. However, in this instance, it's to our advantage."

Carefully the three of them moved around the creatures giving them a wide berth, until they were in the agreed formation. Emily waved to Abby from the far side.

"OK, soldier boy, time to start things moving," Abby said.

Webster raised his gun and let off two shots up into the air. The entelodonts froze. Slowly the soldier began walking forwards. Abby remained still, waiting for the entelodonts to move. Webster fired a third shot up into the air and the creatures suddenly lurched forwards.

"We are moving back towards the anomaly," Abby reported.

"Copy!" said Jess.

* * *

"Becker, you are going to need to take a detour," Jess's voice broke into Becker's thoughts as he lead five soldiers in the direction of the Okehampton range. They were pursuing the largest pack of the entelodonts which were heading directly for the training ground.

"Why? We can track them easily. They're making a complete mess of the ground!"

"They're heading for a disused live firing range. The area hasn't been cleared. I'm going to direct you around. You shouldn't lose much time."

Becker debated arguing, but she was right. There was no point in someone losing a limb, or worse, in an attempt to catch up with the creatures.

"I'm also getting a second unit out. You're not far from the barracks. They may even intercept the entelodonts before you do."

Becker grunted noncommittally.

"Don't sulk!" Jess admonished him. "There's a path about a hundred metres to your right. It's on the military maps. Should be pretty clear."

"I know the one," said one of the soldiers.

"Very good, show the way," Becker said.

The man grinned cheekily at him. "Can't have you sulking, sir."

* * *

Matt breathed a sigh of relief as the hedgerows dropped away and they came back out onto the moor proper. He immediately switched the jeep into first and drove forwards into a tight circle on the grass and then over towards the anomaly.

"They're following us!" Connor shouted.

Matt risked a glance in his mirror.

"Can you lead them to one side for a bit?" Jess asked. "Abby and Emily are about to bring two down the hill. I don't want your vehicle spooking them."

Matt glanced over at the anomaly and then back at the entelodonts in the mirror. "I'll just get out of the way. They may head back into the anomaly once they see it."

He spun the wheel and drove slowly, keeping an eye on the creatures behind them as they trotted off the road and onto the grassy bank.

"There's Abby!" said Connor.

Matt glanced in the direction he was pointing and saw Abby and Emily coming down the side of the tor with two entelodonts between then and a soldier bringing up the rear. There was a lot of grunting and squealing as the two groups of entelodonts saw each other. Abby's party slowed slightly, letting the pig creatures run on ahead of them, until the two groups converged just shy of the anomaly. 

Carefully Matt started the engine and then edged up behind the creatures. He gunned the engine slightly and watched the animals start and move away from him. Then one of them raised its head and trotted through the anomaly. As if following its lead, the others followed.

Matt let out a sigh of relief. "OK, well that's done then. Jess, where's the third group?"

"They're some distance away, across a firing range and then into roadside picnic territory. I've got a second squad out from the base and they're meeting up with Becker any minute."

"How long until they get back here?"

"At least ten minutes, probably longer."

Matt nodded to himself. "We've got a few unconscious entelodonts to repatriate but then we'll lock the anomaly. I don't want anything else coming through while we wait for Becker to get back."

"I saw you left one on the road. You won't want to carry it all the way. I'll see about getting some sort of truck to you."

"I also had to leave a couple of soldiers behind, one with an injured leg," Matt began.

"Already on it, don't worry. One of the military ambulances will be with them in three minutes."

Matt nodded and climbed out of the Land Rover. Abby and Emily had already walked over to meet him.

"Where's Becker got to?" Abby asked.

Matt quickly filled her in.

"Jess, can you patch me through to Becker?" Abby asked. "I've got some ideas about herding these things."

* * *

By the time Becker and his team had worked around the disused range the second squad had already intercepted the entelodonts. It looked to Becker like the soldiers had seized the opportunity to break out some toys, since there were a couple of quad bikes in among the ground troops.

"Those may be useful. Matt says he thinks the things don't like engines all that much," Becker murmured.

"That's why we brought them, sir," said Sergeant Hughes who was leading the second team.

"If you can drive them back up the path you just came down, it shouldn't be too difficult to get them back to the anomaly," said Jess.

Becker glanced up the path and had to concede she was right. It lay naturally in a slight cutting, making it less likely the animals would stray.

"Right, we'll herd the creatures onto the path. Then I need one of the bikes to go round in order to head them off when we get near the anomaly."

Becker moved his own team off the path and watched as one of the bikes began moving towards the large pig-like creatures that were grazing in the picnic area.

* * *

"Matt, Becker's party will be with you any minute now, you need to get that anomaly unlocked again," Jess's voice rang over the headsets.

"Roger that! Connor, switch off the locking device and get it and you back in the Land Rover!"

Matt looked around the area. DS Hawks was in a little group chatting to Emily and Private Webster, while Connor and Abby were standing over the locking device.

"Detective, I'd like you back in the jeep as well. Abby, Emily, Webster, get yourselves out of sight but be ready to lend assistance if necessary."

He watched as the three figures spread out away from the anomaly and then dropped down into the grass. Connor switched off the locking device and he and the policeman picked it up and carried over to the jeep.

Matt lay down on his front in the damp grass, keeping a sharp look out in the direction Becker was expected.

"Jess, we're all lying low so as not to spook the animals. Let Becker know we're to hand, though."

"Don't worry, I will."

Matt heard the sound of the quad bike engines before he saw anything. Then a substantial group of entelodonts appeared at a brisk trot, heading towards the anomaly. Behind them two quad bikes zipped back and forth, keeping far enough away not to alarm the creatures unduly, but close enough to keep them moving.

A bunch of squaddies, with Becker's black-clad form in the lead walked across the moor behind them.

It was almost a text-book operation. The creatures trotted happily into the shining light of the anomaly. Connor popped back out of the jeep with the locking device and then, everything was over.

"All safe and sound!" Matt reported to Jess as he walked over to check with Becker.

"Any trouble?" Matt asked him.

Becker shook his head. "No. It went very well."

"Better than well," the sergeant standing next to Becker reported. "Excellent coordination from what I hear."

"Yes well we have an excellent field coordinator," Abby broke in. 

Matt didn't miss the pointed look she shot in Becker's direction.


	5. Chapter 5

William Blakewood took a deep invigorating breath of the moorland air and surveyed the countryside spread out below the tor.

"I don't imagine you get sights like this in London very often," remarked his host, Randall Carlisle.

William shook his head. "Nor the air. The smoke in London is abominably oppressive these days."

Carlisle chuckled. "Glad you could come down for a holiday then." He gestured with his stout walking stick. "If we head this way we'll soon come to the lane back to the house."

The set off down the side of the tor.

"What's that?" William asked. He could see what looked like some kind of creature, a short way off on the moor. "Doesn't look like a pony."

"Can't tell. Something's been attacking some of the local farmer's sheep though. There's been talk that maybe an animal escaped from Plymouth zoo."

"Bit of a long way from Plymouth, I'd have thought." William stared at the creature. "Still it's big for a wild animal."

The path down the tor took them out of sight of the whatever it was for a while, but when they rounded a bend in the track they could suddenly see it again, much closer.

"It's a lion!" William exclaimed in surprise.

The general shape of the creature was unmistakable.

"Big one too," muttered Carlisle. "Wish I'd brought a gun with me."

The lion crouched low on the mossy grass and stared at the two men, the tip of its tail swishing.

"We're still large to be prey animals for it. I suggest we retreat carefully. Keep a good watch on it," William said quietly.

"You come up against lions when you were in India?" Carlisle asked and William could detect the anxiety and hope in his voice.

"Not without a big party, plenty of guns and some natives to help out," William had to admit.

The lion stayed in a low crouch. Then suddenly it sprang towards them, crossing the moor at alarming speed. 

"Mr Carlisle, your walking stick, if you could be so kind," said William.

Silently, Carlisle handed him his stick. William stepped in front of the older man and raised the stick. It wouldn't prevent a determined attack but he hoped that if he gave the beast a good blow around the head, it would retreat.

The lion sprang and William swung the walking stick hard, hearing it crack as it landed on the lion's head. At that moment there was a sound not unlike a volley of gunfire. William instinctively flung himself flat on the ground, pulling Carlisle down with him. The lion screeched briefly. When William looked up it was lying bleeding on the ground.

"Well, I'll be..." began Carlisle, but checked himself.

William looked in amazement at the large man who had risen out of the concealing moorland. He was wearing the most outlandish clothes, consisting of an ill-fitting jacket and trousers in an amazing particoloured material of patches of green, brown and black. In his hands he carried a rifle of a kind William had never seen before.

"You all right?" asked the man in a harsh voice.

"I think so. We owe you our lives, sir."

The man looked at him cautiously and William had the distinct impression he was being sized up. 

"Lieutenant Kevin Hargreaves," he said eventually and his voice, William noticed, had modulated away from the harsh tones, though there was still an accent to it that William couldn't place. "Just doing my duty, sir, anyone would help out in a situation like that."

Carlisle was dusting himself down. "That's as may be but your intervention was most timely. That's an impressive weapon you have there."

"It's an experimental prototype, sir. I really shouldn't be letting you see it, but under the circumstances..." the man trailed away suggestively.

"Oh, quite! quite!" Carlisle nodded. "Are you training up here then?"

"Something like that. You know how it is." 

William found himself nodding along with Carlisle. The man certainly had the bearing of a soldier and some kind of secret trials on Dartmoor went some way to explain his outlandish costume and equipment.

"Well, I must offer you tea, lieutenant, after your timely rescue. It's the least you can do. When do you get off duty?"

Lieutenant Hargreaves glanced down at his wrist and William spotted a watch that matched the rest of his attire for strangeness. "About an hour sir. It would be a pleasure to take tea with you."

"Oh excellent, Lieutenant! My house is just down this lane at the bottom. Buckland Rising is the name, you can miss it."

"Very good, sir. I'll be there in maybe two hours. It will give me time to make myself respectable."

The man raised his hand in a salute and then turned and headed back across the moor away from them and in the general direction of Princetown.

"That was very interesting," William said.

"Seems like a nice enough fellow. A little odd but then I suppose these hush hush types often are." Carlisle looked down at the lion. "Gracious me. I suppose we should arrange for someone to bring this creature down to the house. We'll have to have it stuffed and put on display."

* * *

Emily Carlisle was sitting in the garden of her uncle's country house when her maid nipped out to tell her that her uncle and Mr. Blakewood had killed a lion on the moor.

"Jane, are you sure you heard that correctly?"

"Definitely, miss. I got it from Jim who works in the stables. He says Mr Carlisle came in all excitement and said to round up a cart and John the gardener and Harry from the village who helps out sometimes with heavy work and to get themselves up on the moor and bring back a lion that had been shot." Jane paused for breath at this point.

Emily seized the moment in order to get a word in edgeways. "How extraordinary." She got up from her chair and checked her skirts. "They will be bringing it up the lane, I suppose."

"Yes miss."

Emily picked up her parasol and began to walk around the house. She wondered briefly if she should let her mother know, but Mrs Carlisle was of a somewhat nervous disposition and Emily suspected she might take fright at the sight of a recently killed lion.

She rounded the house just in time to see a cart pulling up in front of the entrance. Jim was standing at the horse's head and Emily could tell the creature was nervous, even though it had been blinkered and presumably couldn't see the lion at all. She marched up to the back of the cart and peered in. It was definitely a lion, a huge cat-shaped creature with a tawny coat.

"Emily, my dear!" Her uncle Carlisle hurried up to her, red in the face with excitement.

"Is it really a lion, uncle?"

"Must be, though I've no idea how it got onto the moor."

"It must have escaped from somewhere." Her uncle's friend, Mr Blakewood, came up and gazed into the cart with them. "You don't find it alarming, Miss Emily?"

Emily realised she didn't. It was only a dead creature after all. You saw worse carried by the butchers' carts across London. "It's very large," she said.

Blakewood nodded. "I've never seen one that size. It's possible African lions are bigger than the Asiatic ones I've come across though."

"We were lucky Lieutenant Hargreaves was about," said Mr. Carlisle. "Could have been nasty."

"Lieutenant Hargreaves?" Emily queried. She thought she knew all of her uncle's friends.

"An Army man. He was out on the moor and saw the beast attacking us. Luckily he was armed."

Emily looked back at the creature's body. `Luckily' was something of an understatement she thought.

"He'll be here shortly. We invited him for tea. I've asked the servants to set it up in the day room."

Emily realised she was going to have to break the news of the lion to her mother after all.

* * *

Emily regarded Lieutenant Hargreaves with interest over the top of her tea cup. He was certainly singular. His hair was cut so short it was little more than a thin fuzz over his scalp and his accent was very strange. It was perfectly proper but a little odd in a way she couldn't put her finger on. His manner was also eccentric and though he was polite he sometimes used strange turns of phrase and seemed to lapse into an almost over-familiarity.

"Where does your family come from?" her uncle asked.

"Brighton originally, but I grew up all over the place, sir. I was a regular little army brat."

Emily pondered the strange phrase, though its meaning was clear enough.

"But surely you were schooled in England," she said.

Hargreaves shook his head. "My father thought I should see the world, said my Englishness would out. I had a private tutor everywhere we went, but I have to admit it's not quite the same."

"Travel broadens the mind though," said Mr. Blakewood.

Emily could see that the others were thinking, as she was, that the lieutenant's strange upbringing probably accounted for his eccentric manner and turn of phrase.

"How long have you been in the army?" Emily asked.

"Five years now, miss. Almost non-stop, though I have some leave starting tomorrow."

"Will you be travelling to see your family?" asked Mr. Carlisle.

"No sir, they're still abroad. I thought I might go walking, down into Cornwall. I've not really had the opportunity to see Dartmoor or the South West."

"Well if you plan on sightseeing in the area, then you should stay with us for a few days!" said Mr. Carlisle. "It would be pleasure to host you!"

Emily saw what seemed to be the briefest glimmer of satisfaction cross Lieutenant Hargreaves' face.

"That would be very kind of you sir, though I don't like to be trouble."

"No trouble at all!"

* * *

Jess perched herself on the corner of the map table Connor had commandeered. He had a large scale map of Dartmoor spread out across it into which he had stuck a myriad of multi-coloured pins. Jess quickly recognised the three anomaly locations, distinguished by large red pins but she had no idea what the other pins were for.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked.

"Work out where the next anomaly will open."

"What makes you think there's going to be another one?" she asked curiously.

"We've had a couple of these recurring anomalies before, including one that moved in a line."

Jess frowned at the map. "But these three anomalies aren't in a line."

Connor straightened up, putting his hands on his hips. "I know, I'm trying to work out if any other geographic features account for that."

"Do they?"

"Not obviously, it just looks random at the moment. I'm half-hoping another will show up and then maybe I'll see some sort of pattern."

"So you've nothing to do except stick coloured pins into the map?" Jess guessed.

"Well, I've been wondering about the small invisible anomalies Helen was on about the last time we met her. She opened one by growing it, or at least that's how she described what she did. It's possible she just meant that there are an infinite number of wormholes at the quantum level and you just pick the one you want, but I think it was more specific than that. Now, if we could pick them up then it might clarify things."

"If Helen wasn't just lying about the whole thing," Jess pointed out, ignoring the science gobbledegook and going for what she felt was the pertinent point.

"Well yeah! That too."

"What would it involve?"

"I've got a few tracking devices rigged up. I was thinking of asking for volunteers to drive about with them, see if they pick anything up."

"Sounds like an idea, everyone is just kicking their heels at the moment."

* * *

About half an hour later Jess found herself sitting next to Becker in one of the army jeeps, checking a jury-rigged piece of equipment that Connor had given her. She wasn't sure quite how she'd ended paired up with Becker though she had a suspicion that Abby and Emily had been acting in concert.

"There's some chocolate in the glove compartment if you'd like it," Becker said suddenly, apropos of nothing. "No orange."

Jess frowned slightly but opened the glove box cautiously and was impressed to see a bar of Green and Blacks nestling amid various wires and tools. 

"Expensive chocolate too," she commented, pulling it out. "Did you put it there?"

"No! All army Land Rovers come with chocolate as standard! Of course I put it there."

Jess smirked a little and began to unwrap the chocolate bar.

"So is this an apology?" she asked.

"I've got nothing to apologise for," Becker said a little pompously.

"Well, I suppose there are a lot of potential field coordinators out there."

Becker looked sideways at her. "I was angry."

"Do you really think it was my fault?" she couldn't help asking. Pretty much everyone from Connor, who frankly wouldn't know, up to Lester who almost certainly did, had assured her repeatedly that the fiasco of the first Dartmoor anomaly had absolutely nothing to do with her abilities as a field coordinator, but the doubt had remained. After all, it was Becker who had said that and he was conspicuously the one person who hadn't stated otherwise.

"What was your fault?" he asked.

He was frowning slightly as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Jess had a suspicion that it was an act.

"Abby getting shot."

"God, no! What made you think that?"

Jess stared at him closely. "You did, you said it was my fault."

"I was just letting off steam. I didn't mean it."

"Is _that_ an apology?" she asked a little tetchily.

"You really thought I meant it?"

"Of course I bloody thought you meant it!"

His head swung to look at her, genuine surprise on his features when she swore.

"Eyes on the road please, Captain!" she said primly.

"Jess, I am sorry. It never occurred to me to think you would take it to heart so much. I should have really, after all you are a bit like my kid sister."

Jess gaped at him. "Captain Becker, you really do have the worst case of foot in mouth syndrome I've come across in a while."

"What have I said now?"

Jess was trying to formulate a reply which didn't come out as an undignified screech at the combination of Becker lying through his perfectly straight teeth about what actually happened and, at the same time, being treated like a hysterical little girl who had over-reacted, when an anomaly opened immediately in front of them. Jess had the time for a small gasp of surprise and then the car carried them straight through the glittering light. She was immediately jostled from side to side. The tarmaced road had vanished. Becker slammed on the brakes and they bounced to a stop.


	6. Chapter 6

Jess looked across at Becker. "That was unexpected."

Becker nodded and looked back over his shoulder. "We should be able to reverse back through. He grabbed the gear stick.

"Wait a moment!" Jess put a hand on his arm.

"Jess, we're through an anomaly. I want us back out the other side as soon as possible. We can't risk getting trapped here."

"No, no, wait. This is a track, it's man made."

Becker stopped and Jess could see him looking around. There were long wheel marks in the mud in front of them. Too narrow to be car tyres but Jess was prepared to bet it was a cart or something similar. The moorland on either side of them was as much a wilderness as it was in the 21st century, but the track was plunging into a tree-lined avenue and then wound around a corner.

"Interesting but it doesn't make a difference."

"It does. At least two of the other anomalies have been to the Pleistocene. This clearly isn't the Pleistocene. We should get a rough idea of when we are and then report back to Connor."

"No."

Jess opened her eyes wide. "Please?"

To her surprise Becker let out an exaggerated sigh. "Ten minutes."

Jess bounced in her seat and then quickly opened the door of the car and scrambled out before he could change his mind. "We'll just nip up the path, see what we can see and then come back!" she said.

Becker walked around to the boot and lifted out a large EMD.

"What's that for?" she demanded.

"Back up! If the local peasantry decide you are a witch because you are wearing a mini-skirt. I want to be able to fend them off."

Jess glanced down at her pink skirt and tried to think of a scathing reply, but she had to reluctantly admit that he had a point.

She set off up the path, determined to at least see around the bend before Becker decided to make them head for home. She paused as she reached the turn. The lane opened up into what was clearly a driveway. It wasn't exactly the grandiose sweep of a stately home, but the house in front of her was large with well-manicured lawns and, it appeared, people taking tea. Jess could spot a voluminous skirt even at this distance. She felt Becker place a hand on her shoulder and pull her to one side where they were partially concealed by the trees. To her surprise he then handed her a pair of binoculars.

She put them to her eyes and focused on the group on the terrace. Then she gave a surprised gasp. 

"It's Emily!" she said, passing the binoculars to Becker.

He lifted the binoculars. "And that's Kevin Hargreaves, our escaped criminal."

Becker swung the gun off his shoulders.

"No, wait!" Jess hissed.

"What? Emily's in danger!"

"That must be when she was younger, so she clearly survived the experience."

"Probably because _we_ rescued her."

"I don't think so. I mean, wouldn't she have mentioned it?"

Becker looked doubtful. "Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey?" he said hopefully.

"I think we should head back and tell the others, especially Connor. The anomaly is likely to open again I think, and we know where the convict is now."

"I don't like to just leave him here."

"No, but some of the men over there have guns, and I'm really not sure how this all fits into changing the past or the future or whatever. We know he's dangerous and there's only you."

"You're here as well," Becker said and the acknowledgment sent a little thrill of pleasure through Jess. "But you're right. We need more people to be sure of taking him. Let's get back to the car."

* * *

"This is brilliant! Brilliant!" Connor enthused, sticking more pins into his map.

"It is?" queried Becker.

"Yeah, look! We've got two lines. I bet that it's two linked anomalies, one to the Pleistocene and one to the 19th century." 

Emily was sitting thoughtfully on one side of the map, frowning at Becker and Jess. "I do recall Lieutenant Hargreaves now. He was an army man. But in retrospect he was a little odd. I'm impressed he adapted so quickly, though."

"What do you remember? Did anyone come and arrest him?" demanded Matt.

Emily shook her head, her hair bouncing. "No. He was supposed to come to visit my uncle for a couple of weeks but never arrived. It coincided with wild animals getting loose on the moor."

"Wait! Wild animals?" demanded Connor.

Emily's eyes shone. "There must have been an anomaly from my time back to the Pleistocene as well!"

Connor was leaning over his map again. "The three time periods must be linked by alternating anomalies."

"I was nearly attacked by one of the creatures, but I was rescued by some of the townspeople. I think in the excitement I rather lost track of what happened to Hargreaves."

"You were bloody lucky," said Becker. "Hargreaves was very, very dangerous. I've no doubt he was hoping to use your uncle to gain a foothold in the 19th century. With his modern knowledge he could have become a very powerful man."

"It's vitally important that we arrest him and bring him back," Matt agreed.

"Is it safe to do that?" Abby asked, she was looking at Connor.

"I really don't know. I mean, I guess. The man vanished so it looks like, you know, he went somewhere, so I don't suppose it will hurt to try something." 

"That's so reassuring," Becker muttered.

"Can we predict where the anomaly will open next?" Matt asked.

"Think so!" Connor jammed his finger down in a cul-de-sac in Princetown. "Right there in about 15 hours. Pleistocene again."

* * *

By ten o'clock the next day, they had successfully cleared the street in Princetown on the pretext of looking for Hargreaves. DS Hawks wasn't too pleased about the deception but reluctantly agreed to it on the promise that an arrest would be forthcoming shortly.

"Do you think it will really open?" Abby couldn't help asking Connor as he set up the anomaly locking device on the pavement.

"It better had otherwise I'm going to look like a right idiot." He flashed her a smile. "I'm 99% sure I'm right. Well, 90% anyway. Certainly better than half."

"Here it is!" Becker shouted. 

Abby looked up to see the anomaly billow outwards in the middle of the street.

"Yes!" Connor punched the air.

"Locking device, Connor!" she reminded him.

"Oh yeah!" He hit a button and the anomaly folded back in on itself into a glowing ball.

"Everything work?" Jess asked anxiously on the headsets.

"Yeah, everything worked fine!" Connor reported.

"Bit of an anti-climax really," Abby had to say.

* * *

Planning for the next anomaly involved a full war council, including Major Lee and DS Hawks.

"The next anomaly will be back to the 1860s, close to Emily's house." Connor briefed them. "We know Hargreaves was supposed to be staying at the house but he never arrived. It seems reasonable that we should attempt to intercept him on the way there."

"If I'm backed up with a squad of your troops I will happily apprehend the bugger," said DS Hawks with enthusiasm.

"I'm not sure about that," Matt interrupted. "Even though we have good evidence this happened, I'd like to keep the incursion of modern people into the past as minimal as possible."

"The man killed two armed soldiers," snapped Major Lee. "I hardly think your little band is sufficient for his capture."

"It's too risky. We can't take a full squad through. It'll have to be myself, Captain Becker and Lady Merchant."

"Why does Emily get to go?" demanded Abby.

"Because he will recognise her. It may be useful."

"Have you agreed to this?" Abby rounded on Emily.

"It does appear to make sense. I believe some suitable clothes have been ordered."

"The local National Trust has good contacts with a costume makers' guild. It wasn't hard to source some Victorian clothing. May be a little out of date though," Jess chipped in.

"Three of you are not enough," persisted Lee.

"It will have to do. I have jurisdiction here and I'm not risking more people through that anomaly than is strictly necessary," said Matt firmly.

* * *

"I love historical costumes," Jess said wistfully, fingering the velvet skirts of a large blue dress.

"Most of these are clothes for balls or special occasions," Emily complained flipping through the rack of clothing that had been delivered to the army base.

"I don't suppose Hargreaves will know the difference," Jess pointed out. "Oh look at this one! Isn't it gorgeous?"

She pulled a pink taffeta flight of fancy of the rack and held it up against herself, posing the mirror.

"Why not try it on," Emily suggested. "I don't suppose anyone will mind."

Jess gave a little squeak of pleasure and immediately pulled off her heavy platforms. Emily turned her attention back to the clothes. None of them were really suitable for an afternoon stroll on Dartmoor but, as Jess had pointed out, the object of the exercise was to fool Hargreaves if necessary. Though his ability to blend in impressed her, she recalled that he had ventured little information and few opinions. He probably knew very little about women's clothing of her time. She selected a plain blue gown from the rack. It was at least warm and practical-looking.

"Ta da!" 

Emily turned around to see Jess pirouetting in front of the mirror. The dress she had chosen had a full crinoline with a cascade of pink frills tumbling over it. Jess had found a neat white bonnet from somewhere, which she had pulled onto her head.

Emily was hit with a sudden blow of recognition at Jess's grinning face, peeping out from under the lacy rim.

"Jess! You were there!"

"Emily?" Jess stopped spinning and frowned at her.

"You were there. You met me in the milliners in town when one of the wild animals attacked!"

Jess's face fell. "Captain Becker is not going to be pleased about that."

Emily looked at the younger woman's expression, recognising a lot of hurt and doubt in there.

"He's a good man, Jess."

"Oh, I know that. But he views me as some kind of kid sister. He definitely won't like the idea of me wandering around Victorian England hunting for a murderer and fighting off Pleistocene megafauna."

Emily had to agree with that.

* * *

Captain Becker didn't like it. At least Jess had the decency to look pretty contrite about the situation. Contrite and distractingly adorable in a fancy doll kind of a way.

"What exactly did or will Jess do?" he demanded of Emily once the basic situation had been explained.

"Umm... probably best not to go into that in too much detail actually," interrupted Connor.

"Why the hell not? We might be able to work around it. Keep Jess safe."

"Well that's pretty much exactly why, to be honest. We've no idea how the whole web of time thing works, but we're pretty certain you can change stuff. I think deliberately trying to work around what Emily saw could be dangerous."

"On the other hand, Professor Cutter apparently buggered up causality without any opinion whatsoever about what should have been happening. So why not work it out and do exactly what Emily remembers!" Becker threw back at him.

"Human memory is pretty fallible. I mean Jess knows to go meet her in the milliners and keep her safe from the prehistoric creature. That should be enough."

"There is no way I'm letting Jess take on some sabre-toothed Pleistocene horror on her own."

"She's not a little girl you know," Abby interrupted.

"I know she's not a little girl. She's an unarmed civilian with minimal combat training who you are proposing to place in an incredibly dangerous situation, with almost no fore-knowledge or backup."

"Connor's right," Matt's voice cut across the discussion.

"What do you mean Connor's right? What do you know about it?" said Becker.

"I grew up training to change history. I've spent my whole life discussing it with my father. If we want to leave as little changed as possible then the best course is to send Jess in there and let her act naturally."

"Says the man who grew up in a hole in the ground with no education to speak of."

"We managed." Matt's voice was low and dangerous.

"I'll be really careful, Becker, I promise," said Jess quietly and looking at her Becker could see how frightened she was.

"Maybe you should follow Jess, at a discreet distance," suggested Emily.

"Did you see me as well?" Becker demanded.

"No, I didn't, but it was all a blur, and I did see the creature and... I saw a man in the distance. It's not impossible you were there."

"But in that case, who is going to back Matt up with Hargreaves?"

"I'm not exactly useless, you know," said Abby frostily.

"Me neither," chipped in Connor. "In fact I think I ought to come anyway, if it's going to be all timey-wimey."

"We've got future boy for the timey-wimey stuff," Becker pointed out.

"Yeah, but like you said, he grew up in a hole in the ground."

"I should put you all on a charge for insubordination," Matt complained. 

But Becker noticed that he didn't veto the change of plan.


	7. Chapter 7

The anomaly opened up on the edge of Princetown. Emily blinked away its light as she stepped through and looked around her. She had been braced for a rush of nostalgia but the truth was that Dartmoor looked much the same in 1860 as it did in 2013. The sky was over-cast and visibility was low. She hoped that would work in their favour if they did need to call the troops in.

Matt stepped through the anomaly to stand beside her. The rest of the ARC team followed. It had eventually been agreed that they would all come and that DS Hawks and a contingent of the military would remain on call on the other side of the anomaly if needed. All the ARC team had been clothed in approximations of period clothing. Emily and Jess both had full skirts and bonnets, but Abby had opted to dress more like a boy. It gave her freedom of movement she might need when apprehending Hargreaves. 

Abby, Connor and Becker were dragging a trolley borrowed from the Okehampton Camp. It had been hurriedly, and somewhat unconvincingly, disguised as a hand cart but it would pass muster from a distance and they wanted to be able to move any unconscious prehistoric creatures quickly if it became necessary.

"Where to now?" asked Matt.

Emily pointed up the slope of the path towards the village. "Princetown is that way. Becker and Jess need to go up the road until they reach the junction outside the town hall and then turn right to find the milliners."

"And Hargreaves?"

"I think he was also in town that day. If I remember rightly my mother and I passed him on the street. But he wasn't in the milliners. I think he had supplies of his own to acquire."

"Where did he get the money from?" Connor wondered.

"A man like him wouldn't find it too difficult. From what Emily says he found gentleman's clothes from somewhere between killing the lion on the moor and meeting her uncle for tea," said Abby.

Jess slapped her forehead. "I should have thought to check for murders in the area at the time."

"Wouldn't have told us anything we don't know," Becker said tensely. "Come on!"

They trudged up the hill. Emily had forgotten how irritating the large skirts could be on terrain like this. Her hem was rapidly soaked and mud-stained by the puddles and damp ground. The material wicked up the water until there was almost a foot of dirty grey cloth at the bottom of her petticoats. Fortunately the over-skirt was more resistant, but even it had a heavy dark outline at the bottom.

Jess didn't comment, but Emily saw her examine the hem of her own dress and pout with irritation. At least the crinolines kept the wet material from tangling around their legs.

At the turning they parted company. Emily pointed Jess and Becker towards the milliner's. She started towards the general store, but Matt laid a hand upon her arm.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I've an idea. Do you think you could lure him out somewhere secluded? We should try to avoid any sort of a fight in the village."

Emily nodded. "There's a path over the moor to my father's house."

Connor frowned. "Do you think he'll notice you're older, no offense?"

"He may," said Matt. "But he's unlikely to work out the reason quickly, even knowing about anomalies."

"It has to be worth the chance at any rate, and I have an EMD in my reticule!" Emily lifted up the bag she was carrying with her EMD pistol just about concealed inside.

"Don't under-estimate Hargreaves," warned Matt. "He killed two trained soldiers and he's desperate."

Emily nodded soberly and then turned into the store. She tried to will herself into the mind-set of her youth, where it had never occurred to her that Hargreaves was a dangerous killer.

The shop bell rang as she entered and Hargreaves looked up. She noticed a small frown crease his features.

"Have you found what you needed?" Emily asked, smiling at him.

He nodded and heaved a sturdy looking leather bag off the counter top. "Did you get your hat mended?" he asked.

Emily's mind went blank for a moment but then she remembered that, of course, that was why she had been at the milliners.

"Yes I did. My mother still has some errands to run but I wondered if you would care to walk back to my uncle's with me?" Her mother would have had a blue fit if Emily had invited a man to walk across the moor with her without a chaperone, but she hoped that Hargreaves wouldn't know this.

"Sounds like a good idea," he rumbled and followed her out of the store.

* * *

Jess peered through the small windows of the milliner's shop.

"Can you see Emily?" Becker asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure I can window shop until she arrives if I can't find her. I'll go in. Try not to lurk too suspiciously."

Becker frowned at her. "Don't forget you've got the EMD."

Jess nodded anxiously. "I'm afraid it will cause questions."

"I'd rather answer a few awkward questions than get eaten, wouldn't you?" The muscles all along Becker's jaw were tense with worry. Jess decided not to take exception to his mother-hen act.

"I'll be fine Becker. Emily isn't that good an actress. If I'd been eaten she wouldn't be being so calm about this."

"History can change."

"I know, but have a little faith OK?"

Becker frowned at her again, though there was a more thoughtful expression on his face.

"I'll be fine, Becker. Just hang around and be ready as back up."

He nodded tersely and gestured for her to enter the shop.

The shop itself felt even smaller on the inside than it had looked on the outside. Jess was surrounded by bolts of different cloths. Many were plain cottons and wools in dull colours, but there were a few elaborately embroidered items at the back of the shop and Jess found herself gravitating towards them, fingering the smooth silk and decorative flowers.

"They're lovely aren't they?" She looked up in surprise to see Emily herself standing next to her contemplating them. A second later her brain registered that this Emily was wearing different clothes, a pale lavender dress with a dark blue coat over it, and that her face seemed smoother and softer. This had to be Emily's younger self.

"They are," Jess hesitated, suddenly unsure quite what a respectable Victorian lady did in a shop like this. "Are you thinking of buying?" she asked cautiously, leaving it open precisely what they might be thinking of buying.

Emily's fingers graced over the material. "I might see about getting a few lengths of one of these, but the local seamstresses are frightful. I'll have to take them back to London to get a respectable dress made up."

Jess risked a smile. "Well that's worth knowing, my family only arrived here yesterday. I guess I won't risk having anything made up for myself."

Emily smiled. "I was just having a hat re-dressed. They can't make too much of a mess of that."

She moved back to the counter and Jess tagged along. A middle-aged woman came out of the back of the shop carrying a pale blue bonnet with several layers of frills at the edge. Emily took off her own bonnet and carefully tried on the new one.

"What do you think?" she turned to Jess for an opinion.

Jess opened her mouth to speak but at that precise moment there was a breaking of glass and a massive cat-like creature burst through the window. The shop-keeper screamed. Jess spared a brief thought for where on earth Becker might be before physically grabbing Emily and pushing her around to the other side of the counter.

The cat roared and Jess had a moment to admire the long sabre-teeth as she shoved Emily through the doorway into the back of the shop. The shop-keeper was still screaming, so Jess grabbed the back of her dress and hauled her through as well, slamming the wooden door shut behind them.

The screaming abruptly stopped and the shop-keeper stared glassy-eyed at the two girls. "Lord have mercy on us," she gasped.

There was a thud and something landed against the door. Jess looked around frantically. They were at the foot of a narrow staircase and there was no obvious furniture that could be used to block the door.

"Upstairs!" she said urgently, pushing Emily and the shop-keeper ahead of her.

Behind them there was a loud roar.

* * *

The walk across the moor was strange and awkward. Emily began speaking on the subjects she remembered from her youth; the iniquitous state of the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway and the Trouble with Staff but she quickly realised that Hargreaves, obviously, knew nothing about either topic and since her own memory was hazy she switched to the American Civil War which was at least remembered in the 21st Century. She was planning to move on to Charles Dickens, once she'd worked out what his latest serialisation was, but Hargreaves was obviously a military history enthusiast and so Emily let him talk, merely interrupting with the occasional leading question.

They dropped down into a small hollow and Emily immediately saw Connor, Matt and Abby seated on a large boulder near the path. From the distance Abby was a convincing boy, but Emily didn't think the ruse would last for long, certainly not in the eyes of a man used to women wearing trousers. Emily increased her pace slightly and asked another question, hoping Hargreaves would ignore the small group lounging by the path. However she was aware that he was eyeing them warily and wasn't surprised when he stopped up short a few yards away.

Matt rose slowly to his feet and drew an EMD pistol out from under his jacket.

"Just hold still right there," he said gently.

Abby quickly had a gun in her hands and began to circle around Hargreaves.

At that moment Emily felt a hand on her arm and she was pulled in close to the man. She gasped out in surprise.

"Don't make any sudden moves," Hargreaves said. "I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to this little lady."

Emily half-expected to feel a knife or gun pressed against her, but there was nothing and she realised Hargreaves was relying on his greater strength alone to keep her in line. Leaving herself no time for doubts she jabbed backwards hard with her parasol and then pulled forwards as his grip momentarily loosened.

"You little..." Hargreaves began.

Then Emily heard a shot. Matt threw himself flat on the ground behind the boulder, pulling Connor down with him.

"Stop right there, Miss Carlisle, if you don't want me to shoot you!"

Emily froze. She still had her back to Hargreaves. She carefully opened the drawstrings on her bag, hoping he wouldn't see the movement of her hands. Gently she eased out the EMD, then dropped the reticule and held the gun close to her chest, hidden all the while from Hargreaves' view. She was listening carefully, and could just make out the man's footfalls as he approached her. She spun around and fired in one movement. She enjoyed the look of sudden surprise in Hargreaves eyes, before he doubled over as the electric charge hit him. The pistols didn't pack the power of the big rifles, so she shot him a second time for good measure.


	8. Chapter 8

Jess ushered her charges up the narrow stairs. They led into to a little room, clearly the shop-keeper's living and working space. A small table by the window was strewn with the paraphenalia of sewing and there was a stove in the chimney breast with a heavy iron kettle on top of it. Jess slammed the door shut behind them but was dismayed to see that it didn't even have a proper mechanism, only a latch that she was fairly sure would give way to the slightest force.

"Do you have a bed we can move in front of the door?" she asked the shop-keeper breathlessly.

"Not that you can get out of the bedroom. It was built in there!" The woman gestured towards a curtained doorway.

Jess darted through. The room itself was dominated by a huge bed, but the woman was right, there was no way it would fit through the doorway itself. The bedroom doorway was simply covered by the curtain, there was no actual door, so they had no hope of barricading themselves in.

Jess hurried back into the front room and pulled the table away from the window. 

"This is probably the best we can do,"

"What is that thing?" the shop-keeper said in amazement, making no move to help her.

The young Emily hurried over and between them they lifted up the table and stacked it in front of the door.

"I don't know what it is," Jess snapped. "Maybe it escaped from a zoo."

"There was another large animal escaped a few days ago," said Emily. "Perhaps there is a private zoo somewhere."

"If there is, then I hope there's trouble for them," said the shop-keeper.

Jess leaned out of the window and looked around desperately for Becker, but he was nowhere in sight. It had started raining and Princetown's high street looked deserted.

There was a crash of splintering wood somewhere below them.

"That will be the door at the bottom of the stairs," Emily said quietly. Her eyes were wide but she wasn't panicking.

The shop-keeper crossed herself and backed away towards the bedroom.

Jess hurriedly opened the bag she was carrying, tipping out the pistol. She'd hoped to keep it hidden because it would be difficult to explain. Indeed Emily's eyes opened wide at the sight of it.

"Just don't tell anyone I've got it," Jess pleaded and hoped Emily wouldn't question why.

"Do you think it will be effective?" Emily asked.

Before Jess could answer there was a massive thud against the door. The latch immediately gave way and the table lurched towards them. Jess backed up slightly, holding her pistol at the ready.

There was a growl and a second thump. The table fell over with the door on top of it.

Jess instinctively let out a large yell. She fired her pistol. Although the great beast didn't drop to the ground, as she had hoped, it shied away from her towards Emily. 

Emily shrieked and grabbed a chair, swinging it out to catch the side of the cat's head. Jess hesitated, not sure enough of her own marksmanship to be confident she wouldn't hit Emily.

The cat though, had clearly had enough. Seeing the open window it sprung through it in one graceful leap.

Jess bit her lip and ran to the opening, anxious to see if anyone was in the street below. She was relieved to see Becker running along, an elderly looking man in tow. 

"Oi!" Becker shouted.

Jess felt Emily squeeze into the window beside her. "That's my uncle!" she gasped.

The smilodon turned and bounded down the street towards Becker. He dropped down on one knee to get a steadier firing position and then let off three shots with the rifle in quick succession. Jess couldn't see what happened exactly, for a moment it looked like the creature would just carry on, but then it stumbled and finally collapsed to the ground, tumbling to a halt just in front of Becker. He rose to his feet, apparently unruffled by the closeness of the call.

Jess breathed a sigh of relief and felt Emily clutch her hand.

"Do you know him?" Emily asked.

Jess felt herself blush and struggled to think of how to explain Becker. Emily's knowing smile didn't help.

"Is he your fiancé?" she asked.

"Err.. yes?" Jess hesitated and prayed silently that she'd be able to bring Becker up to speed before everything got out of hand.

They hurried down the staircase to find Emily's uncle and a woman who was introduced as Emily's mother at the doorway. Peering around them Jess could see Becker, still some way down the street, rather ostentatiously standing guard over the fallen sabre-tooth.

"Are you all right my dear?" Emily's uncle asked.

"A trifle flustered, but unharmed!" There was high colour in Emily's cheeks and her eyes were bright.

"Oh Emily! What happened?" her mother demanded.

"Miss..." and Emily tailed away at that point, glancing at Jess.

"Parker," Jess supplied.

"Miss Parker had the presence of mind to collect us all upstairs and then... then we hit it with chairs until it jumped out of the window!"

Jess mouthed a quiet `thanks!' at Emily, relieved that she hadn't mentioned the gun. "We were lucky," she then added to Emily's story.

"Are you all right, my dear?" Emily's uncle turned his attention upon her. "Is there someone here to look after you."

"Yes, that's my fiancé" Jess waved down the road towards Becker and then hesitated, sensing from the slight stiffness of those around her that a fianc&ecute was probably insufficient. "And there are my brother and his...!" Connor and Abby had appeared at the end of the street but Jess suddenly realised she simply couldn't introduce Abby as Connor's wife. Not in the clothes she was wearing.

"His stable boy," she finished lamely.

"Let me escort you to them," said Emily's uncle, proffering his arm.

"I'll come too," said Emily.

"No, my dear, you look quite flushed. You had better come back to the house with me in the carriage. I'm feeling quite faint," her mother said.

Emily looked crest-fallen. Jess reached out and squeezed her hand. "You were wonderful in there, really brave!"

"So were you," Emily smiled at her. "Will you come to tea once you are over the excitement?"

Jess bit her lip, wanting desperately to say yes but aware that it would not be. "I'm not sure," she temporised, "I'll have to ask my brother, but I'm sure we'll meet again."

She watched as Emily was reluctantly ushered away. Further up the street, it appeared Becker and Connor were loading the smilodon onto their improvised hand-cart under Abby's supervision.

Emily's uncle offered her his arm and escorted her towards them. Becker looked up as they approached.

"I'm glad you're safe, Jess," he said neutrally.

Jess repressed the urge to point out that that was no thanks to him.

"Your fiancé showed great presence of mind," said Emily's uncle.

Becker's face was a picture. There was momentary confusion, followed by a deep blush and then a shy smile. "She's a very brave lady," he managed finally.

Jess opened her mouth for some sort of come back and then shut it again as the honesty in his expression stopped her short. She realised that Emily's uncle was chuckling gently. 

"Well, I will leave you two together and just have a quick word with your brother."

"Brother?" Becker said quietly.

Jess did her best to send a significant look at Connor who managed to look even blanker than normal.

"What?" he said, and then turned to look behind him as if expecting to see someone there.

"Do forgive him," Abby stepped in. "It's all been a bit of a surprise."

Connor scowled at her, then glanced at Emily's uncle. "Surprise, yeah! But we'll... you know... take this smilo... cat away for... you know... safe-keeping, yeah!" He nodded vigorously and cast Abby an anxious glance.

"Are you more of these experimental army types?" Emily's uncle asked.

"Errr... yes?" Connor said, still looking frantically between Abby, Jess and Becker.

"Splendid! Any idea where these creatures are escaping from?"

"Not at the moment, sir," Becker had obviously decided that Connor had suffered enough. "We're just doing our best to clear them up."

"And bringing the young lady with you?"

"We weren't expecting to encounter one in Princetown, sir."

Emily's uncle harrumphed quietly, shot Becker a sharp look and then obviously decided to let it slide. "Well I'm very grateful you shot the thing, and to your fiancé for protecting my niece."

He turned to Connor. "My wife would very much like to invite you all to tea."

"Oh, err, that could be difficult," Connor said. "We need to be..." Connor waved his arms around frantically, "places."

"I'll tell my aunt," Jess said hurriedly. "I'm sure she'll send a reply."

Abby was already standing at the front of the hand cart. Becker sighed wearily, shouldered his EMD and grabbed hold of the other side of the handle. Connor looked around confused, so Jess slipped her hand through his arm. Becker nodded at Abby and they began to pull the cart along the street, Jess and Connor walking along steadily behind.

* * *

The walk to the anomaly was short. A steady drenching drizzle settled in and appeared to be enough to prevent spectators gathering or following the hand cart.

"Where were you?" Jess demanded of Becker as he and Abby pulled the cart along.

"Emily's uncle found me loitering and was giving me the third degree," Becker said. "The man's incredibly scary when he puts his mind to it. I'd just about persuaded him I was merely passing through the village when that beast came out of the window."

"What about when it went in?"

"That must have been when he had me in the vicarage explaining myself to the parson. Luckily the vicar had some kind of errand to run or I'd probably still be there."

They pushed the cart through the anomaly. Matt and Emily were waiting for them with a locking device. DS Hawks and the small platoon of soldiers Major Lee had sent with them had already vanished, no doubt escorting Hargreaves to a secure holding cell.

"You stopped the creature then?" Matt asked.

Emily made an exasperated huffing sound. "I did say they would. I was there, you know."

Emily walked forward and clasped Jess's hands. "You were wonderful, Jess. You and your fiancé." She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" grumbled Becker.

"Don't worry, everyone knows you think I'm just a little girl, like your kid sister," Jess snapped, finally losing it as the adrenaline wore off.

"What? What have I done now?" Becker asked.

"Mate, if you don't know, we certainly aren't telling you," Connor said, slapping Becker on the shoulder.

Matt set off towards the SUVs. "Becker and Jess can guard the anomaly and argue, or whatever it is they plan on doing, while they're about it. Everyone else, we need to get this creature back to the army base."

"Wait a minute, I'm the field coordinator, I don't guard anomalies!" Jess said outraged.

"You do now, if you want the fun of coming out in the field, you have to do the boring bits too."

Jess watched in indignation as everyone piled into a Land Rover and drove off.

"This is ridiculous. What if someone sees us? We're dressed as Victorians!" She rounded on Becker clenching her fists in exasperation.

Becker was laughing.

"Oh that's just typical!" Jess flopped herself down on a boulder and glared at the locked anomaly.

"Jess," Becker walked over and sat beside her.

"I'm not talking to you."

"Jess, I didn't mean to sound like I was horrified about being your fiancé"

Jess laced her fingers together on her lap. "It's not that, not really. Though you didn't need to sound quite so alarmed. It's just, you know, it would be nice to be taken seriously once in a while."

"Jess, we all take you seriously, honestly."

"Doesn't feel like it sometimes."

"You're the best field coordinator there is. I know you know that, but seriously we know that too and... I know that too. I was totally out of line the other day and I can't really excuse it by saying I didn't expect you to take it seriously because, at the time, I did mean you take it seriously. I was angry with myself and taking it out on you, and that is totally fucked up and unprofessional. If I'm honest you're just always so damn bright and cheerful it does feel a bit like you're a younger sis... younger person who needs protecting. But I absolutely know everything you've been through and I know you can take care of yourself and I think it's wonderful that you can still be so you after everything that's happened."

Jess felt herself beginning to tear up a bit. She hoped desperately she wasn't going to cry. "Now, you're just being nice to me."

"I'm not _just_ being nice to you. I'm being honest. I've not been fair to you, and Abby and Emily have both read me the riot act. In some ways I'm a terrible coward and half the time I'm just pushing you away because I'm afraid to get any closer. Jessica Parker, look at me."

Jess looked at him. 

Becker drew a deep breath. "Jessica Parker, I think you are the most amazing person I know, and I want to wrap you up and protect you even though I know you don't need any protection just because I think you are so wonderful and I don't ever, ever want you to change."

"Is this serious?" Jess asked, recalling all the mixed signals she had had from Becker over the past few months.

"Yes, it's really serious... just now I was being an idiot about the whole fiancé business because, like I said, I'm a coward and I didn't want anyone to realise how much I liked the idea. Not, that I'm saying that to pressure you or anything, just so you know it wasn't that I hated the idea at all. And I..."

But Jess never found out what he was going to add to that because at that moment she leaned in and kissed him.


End file.
